RI's Immigration Laws: Why does nobody care?<\/p>\n
Nuning Hallett, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was interesting to read the news report about President
\nSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono's meeting his fellow countrymen during
\nlast month's visit to Chile for the APEC summit.<\/p>\n
The article said that Santi Alvarez, an Indonesian woman
\nmarried to a Chilean man, left her home country because the
\ncouple could not continue to pay immigration fees for her foreign
\nhusband. In Chile, Santi asked Susilo to review the Citizenship
\nLaw, especially the article on mixed marriages. The President
\nresponded positively and promised to take a close look at this
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
However, what was interesting was Susilo's lack of awareness
\nabout the law, as revealed in his question to Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Hassan Wirayuda: \"What does the law say?\"<\/p>\n
He is not alone in this. In 2002, then state minister of
\nwomen's empowerment Sri Redjeki responded in the same manner when
\nI and other friends from mixed-couple organizations handed her a
\nproposal to review the Citizenship Law.<\/p>\n
The case was the same with the Department of Women's Studies
\nPostgraduate Program at the University of Indonesia, the staff of
\nwhich were surprised when told about implications of this law.<\/p>\n
Thus far, all that people have heard about mixed-marriage
\nproblems concerns only cases of deportation.<\/p>\n
It is understandable why people do not pay too much attention
\nto this: The Citizenship Law only affects minority groups like
\nIndonesians of Chinese descent and the now-defunct but still
\n\"unofficially\" required Indonesian Citizenship Certificate
\n(SBKRI) and mixed-marriage couples. Even though these groups are
\na small percentage of the population, they are also Indonesian
\ncitizens who must be treated equally before the law.<\/p>\n
Revising the Citizenship Law is urgent, because too many have
\nalready fallen victim to this discriminatory legislation and for
\nseveral other reasons.<\/p>\n
First, the number of Indonesians marrying foreigners is
\nincreasing. According to the Jakarta Census Bureau, 878
\nIndonesians have married foreigners in Jakarta alone over the
\nlast 3 years.<\/p>\n
Second, problems have arisen from a clause in Law No. 62\/58 on
\ncitizenship, which mandates that offspring of a mixed marriage
\nbetween an Indonesian woman and a foreign man take the
\nnationality of their father. Related problems concern immigration
\nprocedures, social rights and the inability of the Indonesian
\nwife to sponsor her husband so they can take up permanent
\nresidence in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The implications of this discriminatory law have become more
\nsevere since the beginning of the economic crisis in 1997, when
\nmany expatriate men lost their jobs and corporate sponsorship of
\ntheir immigration status at the same time. Such men had to change
\ntheir visas from the usual Temporary Stay Permit, or KITAS, to a
\nCultural\/Social (Sosial Budaya) Visa, which is sponsored by a
\nresident of Indonesia and must be renewed every month for a
\nmaximum of six months. After this six-month period, the
\nindividual must reapply for the visa -- through an Indonesian
\nmission abroad.<\/p>\n
Imagine that a mixed-marriage couple has two children, and
\naccording to Indonesian law, the children are foreign citizens.
\nThis means the couple must spend almost Rp 2 million in monthly
\nextensions and go abroad every six months -- all while there is
\nno income, perhaps because the husband's multinational left the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Some couples facing this situation have been forced to move
\nabroad, like Santi Alvarez, and other marriages have ended in
\ndivorce.<\/p>\n
The irony of this immigration issue is illustrated by the
\nfollowing incident: The British husband of a friend was conferred
\nin 2000 the Bintang Jasa Pratama, \"In appreciation of his great
\ncontributions to Indonesia\", from then president Abdurrahman
\nWahid. Recently, this man took early retirement so he could
\nconcentrate on helping develop the country's human resources
\nthrough education. Despite this, he found himself stuck with
\nimmigration procedures that forced him to leave the country to
\nrenew his visa every month, and his Indonesian wife was unable to
\nsponsor his stay. Thus, he decided to move to Malaysia -- a great
\nloss for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
A more complicated immigration issue occurs when an Indonesian
\nwoman marries a foreign national from a negara rawan, or fragile
\ncountry, or from a country that has no diplomatic ties with
\nIndonesia. Such people cannot renew their visa in Malaysia or
\nSingapore, but must go as far away as the country closest to
\ntheir own that has diplomatic relations with Indonesia.<\/p>\n
They are also ineligible for KITAS, even though they may have
\na large business here that employs hundreds of Indonesian
\nworkers.<\/p>\n
There are many more such cases and the current Citizenship Law
\nmay foster other unexpected scenarios if it is not changed to
\nanticipate the increase in global relationships -- which may turn
\ninto a mixed marriage.<\/p>\n
The writer is Suara Perempuan Indonesia Coordinator and former
\ncoordinator of the Indonesian Mixed-Couple Club (Indo-MC) for
\nAsia from 2002-2003. She can be reached at
\nnspurwaningrum@cbn.net.id.<\/p>",
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